Former Cowboys quarterback and current Fox broadcaster Troy Aikman recently appeared on The Musers on 96.7 FM/1310 AM The Ticket [KTCK-AM]. Here are some of the highlights, edited for clarity:
Kellen Moore is making the Cowboys’ loaded offense work right now. Many were skeptical when he was hired as offensive coordinator, and now he’s being eyed as a candidate for head coaching duties elsewhere. What is your take on him right now? Do you see him leaving?
Troy Aikman: “Well, I don’t know Kellen very well, but yeah, I like what he’s been able to do. I think that it only makes sense that he would be a candidate. He was last year for the Boise State [head coach] job, which obviously makes a lot of sense since that’s where he played, but also he interviewed with the Philadelphia Eagles for that job. So, I think he’ll get more interviews if this team continues to do what we’ve seen up to this point.
“I like what he does. I like the way that they attack a defense. I think he’s smart. I think they use their personnel very well. They disguise a lot of what they do. And that’s what a lot of great offensive minds do. For the players, it looks very simple and it’s a lot of the same concepts, but they dress it up and run plays out of a lot of different looks.
“I think the best part right now for Dallas is that Dak Prescott and him, they’re lockstep together in how they’re thinking. And, when you get to that point... I was like that with Norv [Turner] and even Ernie Zampese to a certain extent, but especially with Norv... when you just kind of have an idea of what’s coming in before the play call comes in, and you know exactly why the calls are made and what you’re looking for. And, I know with Norv, we put plays in that were designed just for one particular look that a defense had shown. And I asked, ‘what if they blitz us out of this look?’ And he said, ‘well then we just don’t have anything, throw it away.’ ... 99% of the time we’d call the play and get the exact look it was in for.
“Those guys are rare, and I think Kellen has that ability even though he’s as young as he is. And I mentioned it during the game... a lot of people forget that he and Dak Prescott were teammates. Went through a training camp and offseason together. For Dak, sometimes when your teammate was someone... you know, there was talk at one time about Jason Garrett being an offensive coordinator for the Cowboys when I was still playing. And I was thinking that I think the world of Jason, but I don’t know if I’m ready for someone to cut their teeth on this job while I’m still playing and have good years left. Dak embraced it. He was all for it. In fact, he encouraged it. And I know that Dak realizes, I talked to him about it the other day, he realizes that in all likelihood, Kellen will not be his offensive coordinator for much longer. Because he’s impressed so many people around the league.”
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